The spotlight of the national media is focused upon Najib Abdul Rajak today as he enters into the 100th day of his new tenure as the prime minister of Malaysia.

The tradition of reviewing the performance of a new national leader after 100 days in office began with the 32nd President of the United States Franklin D Roosevelt (1882 – 1945). Coming into power in 1933, FDR was immediately plunged into the very depth of the Great Depression.

FDR responded to the crisis by creating the New Deal, providing relief for the unemployed, working toward economic recovery and initiating reform to the financial system. The emphasis on the 100th day was to highlight the urgency of his monumental task. He succeeded and is remembered by Americans today as one of their greatest presidents.

Like FDR, Najib has also inherited a shrinking economy from his predecessor amidst a global financial meltdown. He too is struggling with rescue packages worth billions trying to resuscitate a limping economy. His liberalisation policy in deregulating rules on equity holdings for public-listed companies is aimed at attracting direct foreign investment.

Unlike FDR, Najib is also burdened with a radically changed political landscape in Malaysia after the political tsunami in March last year. He now has the arduous task from which former prime ministers were spared – facing down a significant opposition presence in the Dewan Rakyat with Pakatan Rakyat MPs snapping at his heels every inch of the way!

His job is made even more daunting by the kind of unprecedented scrutiny never before visited upon past national leaders. The emerging prominence of the alternative media on the Internet has placed his every move under the microscope; that sort of clinical attention from a rakyat with a higher expectation from their government must be unnerving.

His new slogan of 1Malaysia has already been much questioned and ridiculed by news portals and hostile bloggers. His attempt at liberalisation of the country’s political and economic system has often been criticised as being too little too late.

Worse still, his Barisan Nasional coalition has suffered a string of defeats in a series of by-elections, while we await the outcome of the Manek Urai by-election in Kelantan.

Meanwhile, the unresolved political imbroglio in Perak with its ongoing related court cases keep alive the festering discontent among a huge swathe of the rakyat.

Pak Lah has approved his performance as PM in the first hundred days, while Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been less than complimentary. That Grand Old man of Malaysian politics is visibly irked by the latest government decision on the use of English to teach science and maths. The whole nation is watching whether Najib will come under his considerable verbal firepower in the days ahead.

Despite all these obstacles, Najib’s personal popularity has risen to about 65% from 46% before he took office, according to the latest poll. While new prime ministers in the past had enjoyed much higher approval ratings, his latest surge in popularity is a stamp on his authority in his new stature as the First Among Equals in our country.

One hundred days would be too brief a period to give a fair and accurate assessment on the performance of any new top political leader. What is certain is that the months and years ahead will be full of such political challenges never before confronted by a new prime minister in the history of our country.

At stake is the future political fortune of his BN coalition and his personal future as prime minister of Malaysia. The next general election to be held in three or four years’ time must weigh heavily on his weary mind in his every waking hour!

Indeed, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Najib Abdul Razak now has probably the most unsavoury job in the country.